We have had an offer accepted on a property with no chain and all parties would like to move quickly.

We have had our survey done (no major issues)

We have a bank offer subject to valuation.

We are still awaiting the bank valuation. Should we go ahead and instruct the solictor to proceed now with searches etc? Should we also do the fixtures and fittings now. Or should all that wait until the bank valuation?

All are aiming for an August 1 contract exchange if that makes a difference.

The simple answer is YES, absolutely. By the sound of things you have got over the first two major obstacles, survey and your ability to cover the mortgage costs. With the recent changes to mortgage lending the valuation will take the longest time but also searches can take weeks as well. The searches are generally done by the council and due to cutbacks and the summer holidays they have far fewer people available to carry them out. One council in London is currently quoting four weeks for searches!! Wandsworth are currently quoting five to seven working days and whilst this is plenty of time for your 1st August target date remember that if anything comes up in the searches you will require additional time to sort any issues out.

Are you buying through a reputable estate agent? If so they should be able to guide you through the process and tell you what you should be doing and when. Although as a buyer you're not technically their client, they still have a vested interest in making sure that the deal goes through so they should be giving you their very best advice.

I'm not sure what you mean by "do the fixtures and fittings now" as if you are buying then there's nothing for you to "do". I guess you might mean do you need to go through the vendors fixtures and fittings list in which case again, you should definitely get going on this. Although you have three weeks before your target date that's quite a short time from where you appear to be at the moment.

If you have any doubts whatsoever or even if you want a friendly chat do give me a call or drop me a PM - it seems like quite a daunting task but honestly, it's not that hard and it'll be worth it in the end!!